The recent decision of the municipal authorities of Tripoli to begin transferring tons of waste to an old quarry on Mount Menalo has prompted fierce reactions from local residents of Silimna, who claim that an environment crime is being carried out.
The municipal authorities carried out the decision under pressure from the Supreme Court, which has demanded explanations as to why waste has not been collected in Tripoli for the past 2.5 months. The problem has repeatedly been raised, a solution had not been agreed upon.
Local residents claim that the Mayor of Tripoli Dimitris Pavlis has issued an order to begin transferring waste to the quarry without the relevant permission. The area has been cordoned off by police forces to ensure that the waste is transferred, while eyewitnesses report hat trees are being cut down. The municipal authorities claim that the local forest authority has approved the felling of the trees.
Furthermore, the residents stress that the quarry on Mount Menalo is near the Panarcadic hospital and the source of water which supplies Tripoli and point out that the area was declared in 2013 as a historic area by the Central Archeological Council, as it was used a fortification and hideout by revolutionaries in 1821. Additionally, they point out that no environmental report was carried, nor has the Interior Ministry issued a relevant permit.
